Capturing digital images to be transferred to a service provider for storage

ABSTRACT

An electronic still camera for capturing images that can be transferred to a service provider for storage is disclosed. The electronic still camera includes an image sensor for capturing a plurality of images of scenes and for producing image signals representative of the corresponding scenes; an analog-to-digital converter for digitizing the image signals to produce digital images; and a removable memory card for storing a plurality of digital image files corresponding to the digital images. The electronic still camera also includes an internal memory for storing at least one digital image to be displayed; a processor for controlling the transfer of the digital images from the removable memory card to the internal memory and for producing a utilization file; and a display coupled to the internal memory for displaying at least one digital image. The electronic still camera further includes a user interface for scrolling through the plurality of digital images stored on the removable memory card in order to display and select particular digital images to be transferred to the service provider, wherein the utilization file includes the name of at least one digital image file to be transferred to the service provider and the processor stores the utilization file on the removable memory card separate from the digital image files.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

Reference is made to U.S. Ser. No. 09/004,046, now U.S. Pat. No.6,784,924, issued Aug. 31, 2004, entitled Network Configuration File forAutomatically Transmitting Images from an Electronic Still Camera; andis a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 08/977,382, filed Nov. 24, 1997 nowU.S. Pat. No. 6,573,927, issued Jun. 3, 2003, entitled Electronic StillCamera for Capturing Digital Image and Creating a Print Order.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to the field of photography, and inparticular to electronic photography. More specifically, the inventionrelates to an electronic camera that can be interfaced with a hostcomputer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Digital cameras, such as the Kodak Digital Science DC25™ camera, allowimages to be utilized on a home computer (PC) and to be incorporatedinto e-mail documents and personal home pages on the World Wide Web.Presently, if a print is desired, each image must first be copied to thePC and then individually printed. The user is required to manuallyselect each image to be printed, and manually decide how big each printshould be and how many prints to make of each image.

In addition, it is possible for users to electronically send images toothers using software, such as the Kodak Digital Science PicturePostcard Software™. However, this again requires the user to manuallydownload each image to the host computer, select each image to betransmitted, and create a new “Postcard” for each image to be sent.Users can also create “albums” of photos on their computers usingsoftware such as the Family Album Creator™ by Creative Wonders, Inc.Again, however, this is a manual process that requires each image to bedownloaded to the computer, individually selected, and added to thealbum.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,659, reprint information can be generated at thetime a PhotoCD disc is played back. This patent describes an EEPROM cardthat can be inserted into a PhotoCD player. As shown in FIGS. 3, 5, and6 of this patent, the EEPROM card can contain reprint order informationand “album disc” information input by the player operator. However, thisinformation is not generated at the time of picture taking, and is notstored on the same media as the images. Moreover, the reprintinformation does not include information useful to the service provider,such as user account, charge card, and mailing address.

What is needed is a way for camera users to quickly and easily compose“print orders” and “transmission orders” and/or “electronic albuming”orders, at the time they capture their images.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide anelectronic still camera for capturing images that can be transferred toa service provider for storage, the electronic still camera comprising:

(a) an image sensor for capturing a plurality of images of scenes andfor producing image signals representative of the corresponding scenes;

(b) an analog-to-digital converter for digitizing the image signals toproduce digital images;

(c) a removable memory card for storing a plurality of digital imagefiles corresponding to the digital images;

(d) an internal memory for storing at least one digital image to bedisplayed;

(e) a processor for controlling the transfer of the digital images fromthe removable memory card to the internal memory and for producing autilization file;

(f) a display coupled to the internal memory for displaying at least onedigital image; and

(g) a user interface for scrolling through the plurality of digitalimages stored on the removable memory card in order to display andselect particular digital images to be transferred to the serviceprovider, wherein the utilization file includes the name of at least onedigital image file to be transferred to the service provider and theprocessor stores the utilization file on the removable memory cardseparate from the digital image files.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the system according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of downstream services available in the system shownin FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of one example of a creative background addedto an image;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of the organization of a utilization file; and

FIG. 5 is a diagram of another organization of a utilization filetogether with each image file.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Because imaging systems and devices are well known, the presentdescription will be directed in particular to elements forming part of,or cooperating more directly with, apparatus in accordance with thepresent invention. Elements not specifically shown or described hereinmay be selected from those known in the art. Some aspects of the presentdescription may be implemented in software. Unless otherwise specified,all software implementation is conventional and within the ordinaryskill in the programming arts.

A system block diagram of the invention is shown in FIG. 1, and includesa user's host computer (PC) 10, a digital camera 12, equipment locatedat a “downstream” service provider 14, and equipment at a walk-up kiosk16. The camera 12 includes an optical section 18 for imaging a sceneupon an image sensor 20 and generating an image signal, an A/D converter22 for digitizing the image signal, a liquid crystal display (LCDscreen) 24 for displaying images and other information, a number of userinput buttons 26, and both internal memory 32 and a removable memorycard 36 for storing captured images. The camera 12 may optionallyinclude an internal communications interface 28 (e.g., modem). Amicroprocessor 29 generally controls the operation of the camera 12, andinterchanges data through a memory card interface 34 with the memorycard 36, through a PC interface 38 with the host computer 10, through ahost interface 30 directly with the kiosk 16, and through thecommunications interface 28 and a communications network 31 with theservice provider 14.

When the camera 12 is purchased, it is provided with a softwareapplication (located on a disc 40) for running on the user's host PC 10that enables the user to specify the name(s) of downstream serviceproviders, network addresses (friends, family or business associates)and related account information such as billing information (e.g.,charge card number, mailing addresses). The user can also select,through the software application, one or more “creative backgrounds”offered by the service provider (such as a postcard border) and enterone or more text messages, (such as “Hi, I'm having a relaxing vacation,John Smith”), as will be described in connection with FIG. 3. All ofthis information can then be downloaded, via a memory card reader 42 onthe host PC 10, to the removable memory card 36, which can besubsequently inserted into the camera 12. Alternatively, the informationcan be downloaded to the camera 12 via the host PC interface 38 andwritten to the camera's internal memory 32 or the removable memory card36 in the camera. Typically, keyword descriptors accompany theinformation to enable easy access by the camera user.

After placing the memory card 36 in the camera 12 (or disconnecting thecamera 12 from the host PC 10), the user can operate the camera 12 totake numerous pictures, which are stored either in the internal memory32 or in the memory card 36 (or in both). After taking pictures, theuser reviews the images on the LCD screen 24, using the buttons 26 toscroll through the images. The user can then select the desired“downstream services” (printing, e-mailing, and/or albuming) and composethe order using the options listed in FIG. 2. These services and optionsare accessed from the memory card 36 and, for example, the keyworddescriptors are assembled in a menu and displayed on the LCD screen 24.Selections among these services and options are made, for example, byreference to the keyword descriptors and actuation of the user buttons26. The details of the order information is written into a “utilization”file generated by the camera 12 that identifies the order and includespointers to the image files that store the images required to “fulfill”the order. The “utilization” file is stored in the internal memory 32 orthe memory card 36.

For printing, order composition involves selecting the quantity, printsize, and quality level (e.g., thermal or ink jet) of the images to beprinted. For example, the user might choose one “standard” (4″×6″ size)image of 2 different images, and 2 standard size images plus one“enlargement” (8″×10″ size) image of their “favorite” vacation image.The print order information is provided in the utilization file thatidentifies the order and includes pointers to the image files that storethe images required to “fulfill” the print order. In addition to“normal” type prints, the prints can be “creative” prints, using one ofthe creative backgrounds selected on the host computer and downloaded tothe camera along with text. In this case, the “favorite” image might besurrounded with one of the border and captions provided via the host PC10, as shown in FIG. 3.

The user can then take or mail the image memory card 36 containing theimage files and order information (utilization file) to the printservice provider 14. The provider reads the information, fills the printorder, and returns the print order either for pick-up by the user or bymail. The service provider 14 charges the user's credit card account(which can be stored in the print order information file) for the printsprovided. Alternatively, the user can place the card 36 in a slot 50 ofa “walk-up kiosk” 16 along with a credit card. The kiosk can thenautomatically produce the prints required while minimizing the amount ofuser interaction required. Finally, the user could place the card in ahome printer 48, and the printer could automatically produce thequantity of prints of each image required. In the last two cases, thesize and quality of print types available might be limited to thoseavailable by the kiosk 16 or the home printer 48.

Alternatively, the camera 12 could incorporate or be connected to awired or wireless modem, such as the communications interface 28. Inthis case, the print order information, and the image information neededto fulfill the print order, would be transmitted to the service provider14 along with the account information through the communication network31 (which could be a wired or wireless network). The service provider 14would print the order and mail the prints back to the user.

Instead of, or in addition to, composing a print order, the user maychoose to transmit one or more images to others. These images caninclude the “creative” images and/or text described above. The userselects the images and the person(s) who will receive them, from thegroup of addresses loaded into the camera 12 via the process describedearlier (the software application running on the home PC 10). The e-mailorder information is provided in the utilization file that gives thee-mail address and includes pointers to the image files that store theimages required to “fulfill” the e-mail order.

If the camera 12 includes a transmitter, e.g., a cellular connection inthe communications interface 28, the camera 12 could include andinitiate a “send” command that the user would enable after completingthe e-mail order. This command would automatically send the appropriateimages to the appropriate user's e-mail accounts through the network 31using the appropriate communications protocol (i.e., FTP, mailto).Alternatively, the camera 12 can be placed in a docking unit (not shown)containing the modem. The images can then be automatically transmittedto the service provider 14, when the camera 12 is inserted into thedock. Alternatively, the memory card 36 could be removed from the camera12 and placed in a kiosk, which would then transmit the images and billthe user's charge card.

Instead of, or in addition to, composing a print order and/or an e-mailorder, the user may choose to transmit one or more images to their“electronic photo album” account, which could be maintained by theservice provider 14 (or alternatively could be maintained on the user'shome computer 10) in an image “album” storage 52. In this case, the userselects the images to be transferred to their photo album, andoptionally selects what group of users might be allowed to view theimages. The groups may include “Self only”, “Self plus immediate familyonly”, and “All” (i.e., family, friends) The information may includetext, which may be input and selected as described in U.S. Pat. No.5,633,678, “An Electronic Still Camera for Capturing and CategorizingImages”, filed Dec. 20, 1995, and assigned to the assignee of thepresent application, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated byreference.

Instead of having the camera 12 communicate directly to the “downstream”service provider 14 over the communications network 31, thecommunications network 31 from the camera 12 could alternatively beconnected to an internet service provider (ISP) (not shown) such as AOL(America On Line), Earthlink, and Eznet. The “downstream” serviceprovider 14 would then be connected to all ISPs via the internet,eliminating the need to maintain a separate communications network. TheISP would transfer the utilization file data and images needed to orderprints and album images to the downstream service provider. The ISPcould itself handle e-mailing of images to other users, using the dataand images in the utilization file.

The utilization order information is provided in the utilization file.The general file organization is shown in FIG. 4, and a detailed exampleof the file contents of an elaborate utilization file is given inAppendix I. This file may be encrypted to prevent unauthorized use ofthe sensitive information, such as the user's credit card number.Referring to Appendix I, a Global information section (lines 2–26)provides the customer information (name, address, credit card), as wellas the time the order was placed, and whether it has been processed ornot.

The file may contain one or more Print Order sections. For example,lines 28–37 describe a print order of “standard” size (4″×6″) prints ofthe images made on a silver halide based CRT printer. Line 34 indicatesthat two copies of the image referenced in line 33 will be printed,while only one copy of the images referenced in lines 35–36 is printed.A second print order section (lines 39–55) indicates a large size print(24″×36″) should be made on a silver halide printer and mounted inparticular in a walnut frame. This printer should be sent via UPS to theaddress shown in lines 47–52. The image is the composite shown in FIG.3, which is described in the CreativeDetail section (lines 76–90).

An e-mail order section (lines 57–65) provides the e-mail address and alist of images that should be sent to this address. An album ordersection (lines 67–72) provides a means for adding images to the userson-line photo album. The user can classify the images under a particularheading (e.g., “vacation” images) and indicate who is allowed to accessthe images via the internet.

A Creative Detail section (lines 74–90) defines each creative image,such as the image in FIG. 3. It also describes user defined text (line81). Multiple templates and user text options may be downloaded from thehost computer to a memory card 36 that is then inserted into the camera12, prior to taking pictures. The template (background) may be anidentification code that is only added, for example, during printing. Inthis case, the template is not viewed when the image is displayed on thecamera 12. Alternatively, a low resolution version of the templatesdesired by the user can be stored in the camera 12, so that the user canpreview the final composite image. A high resolution version of thetemplate can be used by the service provider to print the finalcomposite image. The user may decide to crop and rotate the image (lines86–87) prior to inserting it into the creative background.

Finally, an image detail section (92–102) describes the file type (e.g.,FlashPix, JPEG, TIFF) and location of each image. In this example, thethree images are all FlashPix images located on the memory card “LocalCard” in the “vacation” folder.

Most of the information in GlobalInfo and CreativeDetail sections of thedigital camera utilization file, for example the addresses and creativetext, is downloaded from the host computer to the camera prior topicture taking. After reviewing the images, the user uses the image LCDand user interface to select which images to print, e-mail, and album.The print size, e-mail, albuming, and creative options are offered bypull-down menus that match the options provided by the service providersthey have selected on the computer and downloaded to the camera 12 (viathe memory card 36). The fall utilization file (i.e., Print order,e-mail order) is then created by the camera based on the userselections.

A much simpler print utilization file is shown in Appendix II. In thiscase, the camera 12 simply allows a print order to be created. Thememory card 36 containing the images and the simple utilization file isthen inserted into the home PC 10, the home printer, or the walk-upkiosk 16 or sent to a service provider via a communications interface.The proper number of each selected image is then automatically printed,without further user intervention.

Instead of providing the utilization information for multiple images ina single utilization file, other embodiments are possible. For example,the camera may create three utilization files, one containing theinformation needed to produce a print order, a second containinginformation needed to provide electronic albuming, and a thirdcontaining e-mail order information. Alternatively, the utilizationinformation may be provided with each image file, as shown in FIG. 5. Inthis embodiment, the print order information describing the number andsize of each image to be printed is included in tags provided withineach image file. For example, image file #1 contains the image data anda tag indicating that the user has requested one standard size print.Image file #2 does not contain a print tag (or alternatively couldinclude a tag with the number of prints set equal to zero) so no printswill be made of image #2. Image file #3 includes a first print tagindicating that the user has requested two standard size prints, and asecond tag indicating that the user has also requested a single 8″×10″size enlargement.

The invention has been described with reference to a preferredembodiment. However, it will be appreciated that variations andmodifications can be effected by a person of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope of the invention.

1. An electronic still camera for capturing images that can betransferred to a service provider for storage, the electronic stillcamera comprising: (a) an image sensor for capturing a plurality ofimages of scenes and for producing image signals representative of thecorresponding scenes; (b) an analog-to-digital converter for digitizingthe image signals to produce digital images; (c) a memory for storing aplurality of digital image files corresponding to the digital images;(d) a processor for controlling the transfer of the digital images fromthe memory and for producing a utilization file; (e) a display coupledto the memory for displaying at least one digital image; and (f) a userinterface for scrolling through the plurality of digital images storedin the memory in order to display and select particular digital imagesto be transferred to the service provider, wherein the utilization fileidentifies at least one digital image file to be transferred to theservice provider and account information utilizable by the serviceprovider in processing the at least one digital image file, and theprocessor stores the utilization file in the memory separate from thedigital image files.
 2. The electronic still camera as claimed in claim1 wherein the user interface further enables selection of particulardigital image files to be printed, and the utilization file furtherincludes the names of at least one digital image file to be printed bythe service provider.
 3. The electronic still camera as claimed in claim1 further including a communications interface which interfaces to acommunications network for transferring the selected digital image filesto the service provider.
 4. The electronic still camera as claimed inclaim 3 wherein the communications interface includes a transmitter. 5.The electronic still camera as claimed in claim 4 wherein thetransmitter provides a cellular connection.
 6. The electronic stillcamera as claimed in claim 4 wherein the electronic still cameraprovides a send command to initiate transfer of the selected digitalimage files to the service provider using the transmitter.
 7. Theelectronic still camera as claimed in claim 1 further including aseparate docking unit having a modem for transferring the selecteddigital image files to the service provider.
 8. An electronic stillcamera for capturing images that can be transferred to a serviceprovider for storage, the electronic still camera comprising: _p1 (a) animage sensor for capturing a plurality of images of scenes and forproducing image signals representative of the corresponding scenes; (b)an analog-to-digital converter for digitizing the image signals toproduce digital images; (c) a removable memory card for storing aplurality of digital image files corresponding to the digital images;(d) an internal memory for storing at least one digital image to bedisplayed; (e) a processor for controlling the transfer of the digitalimages from the removable memory card to the internal memory and forproducing a utilization file; (f) a display coupled to the internalmemory for displaying at least one digital image; and (g) a userinterface for scrolling through the plurality of digital images storedon the removable memory card in order to display and select particulardigital images to be transferred to the service provider, wherein theutilization file includes the name of at least one digital image file tobe transferred to the service provider and the processor stores theutilization file on the removable memory card separate from the digitalimage files; wherein the user interface selects at least one group ofusers to provide permission to view the images stored by the serviceprovider.
 9. The electronic still camera as claimed in claim 8 whereinthe permitted group of users is identified in the utilization file. 10.The electronic still camera as claimed in claim 1 wherein theutilization file further includes the file type of each digital imagefile.
 11. The electronic still camera as claimed in claim 10 wherein thefile type of at least one digital image file is a JPEG file type.
 12. Anelectronic still camera for capturing images that can be transferred toa service provider for storage, the electronic still camera comprising:(a) an image sensor for capturing a plurality of images of scenes andfor producing image signals representative of the corresponding scenes;(b) an analog-to-digital converter for digitizing the image signals toproduce digital images; (c) a removable memory card for storing aplurality of digital image files corresponding to the digital images;(d) an internal memory for storing at least one digital image to bedisplayed; (e) a processor for controlling the transfer of the digitalimages from the removable memory card to the internal memory and forproducing a utilization file; (f) a display coupled to the internalmemory for displaying at least one digital image; and (g) a userinterface for scrolling through the plurality of digital images storedon the removable memory card in order to display and select particulardigital images to be transferred to the service provider, wherein theutilization file includes the name of at least one digital image file tobe transferred to the service provider and the processor stores theutilization file on the removable memory card separate from the digitalimage files; wherein the utilization file further includes a cameraowner name and a mailing address of such camera owner.
 13. Theelectronic still camera as claimed in claim 12 wherein the utilizationfile further includes a credit card number of the camera owner.
 14. Amethod for capturing digital images to be transferred to a serviceprovider, comprising the steps of: (a) capturing a plurality of imagesof scenes and producing image signals representative of thecorresponding scenes; (b) digitizing the image signals to producedigital images; (c) storing a plurality of digital image filescorresponding to the digital images in a memory; (d) providing a userinterface for scrolling through the plurality of digital images storedin the memory in order to display and select particular digital imagesto be transferred to the service provider; (e) in response to a userselecting particular digital images to be transferred, producing autilization file and storing the utilization file in the memory separatefrom the digital image files, wherein the utilization file identifies atleast one digital image file to be transferred to the service providerand further comprises account information utilizable by the serviceprovider in processing the at least one digital image file.
 15. Themethod as claimed in claim 14 wherein the user interface further enablesselection of particular digital image files to be printed, and theutilization file further identifying at least one digital image file tobe printed by the service provider.
 16. The method as claimed in claim14 further including the step of interfacing to a communications networkand transferring the selected digital image files to the serviceprovider.
 17. The method as claimed in claim 16 wherein thecommunications network includes a cellular transmitter.
 18. The methodas claimed in claim 14 wherein the utilization file further includes thefile type of each digital image file.
 19. The method as claimed in claim18 wherein the file type of at least one digital image file is a JPEGfile type.
 20. A method for capturing digital images to be transferredto a service provider, comprising the steps of: (a) capturing aplurality of images of scenes and producing image signals representativeof the corresponding scenes; (b) digitizing the image signals to producedigital images; (c) storing a plurality of digital image filescorresponding to the digital images on a removable memory card; (d)providing a user interface for scrolling through the plurality ofdigital images stored on the removable memory card in order to displayand select particular digital images to be transferred to the serviceprovider; (e) in response to a user selecting particular digital imagesto be transferred, producing a utilization file and storing theutilization file on the removable memory card separate from the digitalimage files, wherein the utilization file identifies at least onedigital image file to be transferred to the service provider; whereinthe utilization file further includes a camera owner name and a mailingaddress of such camera owner.
 21. The method as claimed in claim 20wherein the utilization file further includes a credit card number ofthe camera owner.
 22. The method as claimed in claim 14 wherein thememory comprises at least one of an internal memory of an electronicstill camera and a removable memory card of an electronic still camera.23. The electronic still camera as claimed in claim 1 wherein the memorycomprises at least one of an internal memory of the electronic stillcamera and a removable memory card of the electronic still camera.